Abstract. The main objective of this and its accompanying articles is to derive a mathematical theory associated with the thermohaline circulations (THC). This article provides a general transition and stability theory for the Boussinesq system, governing the motion and states of the large-scale ocean circulation. First, it is shown that the first transition is either to multiple steady states or to oscillations (periodic solutions), determined by the sign of a nondimensional parameter K, depending on the geometry of the physical domain and the thermal and saline Rayleigh numbers. Second, for both the multiple equilibria and periodic solutions transitions, both Type-I (continuous) and Type-II (jump) transitions can occur, and precise criteria are derived in terms of two computable nondimensional parameters b 1 and b 2 . Associated with Type-II transitions are the hysteresis phenomena, and the physical reality is represented by either metastable states or by a local attractor away from the basic solution, showing more complex dynamical behavior. Third, a convection scale law is introduced, leading to an introduction of proper friction terms in the model in order to derive the correct circulation length scale. In particular, the dynamic transitions of the model with the derived friction terms suggest that the THC favors the continuous transitions to stable multiple equilibria. Applications of the theoretical analysis and results to different flow regimes will be explored in the accompanying articles.
Executive SummaryThe introductory management information systems (MIS) course is a core course for all business majors at almost every business school. It is common for this course to have multiple sections taught by a mixed group of instructors each semester. Hence, consistent pedagogy and assessment are needed for multiple sections of this course. This paper reports a pedagogical study of this course to address this concern.The study started with a literature review. Surprisingly, regardless of the commonality and importance of this course in business education and the rich literature about information technology education for business majors, few articles in the literature have discussed integrated pedagogy and assessment design beyond teaching techniques for this course. Using the general content analysis methodology, the study analyzed IS 2002 Model Curriculum and Guidelines as well as 37 online course syllabi of introductory MIS courses offered in AACSB accredited business schools, and identified major components of the introductory MIS course. It revealed important facts with regards to the practices of teaching this course in the AACSB accredited business schools. It was found that while lectures, case analysis, essay writing, and team business project were the major teaching-learning methodologies applied to this course, technical project/hands-on had also been used by many schools. Interestingly, technical assignments were the second commonly used assessment tool after examinations/quiz. The applications taught in the hand-on or technical part of the course highly varied, ranging from elementary IT knowledge such as email and word processing, to database, spreadsheet, and even programming.The research results were used for the next stage of the study: integrated design of pedagogy and assessment for this course. Four modules (instructional, intellectual, clinical, and technical) and the corresponding assessment measures were designed. The study demonstrated the correlation between the design of the modules and the design of the assessment scheme. The co-design process warranted that the objectives of the course were fulfilled through these teaching-learning modules, and these modules were the best vehicle to deliver these measurable learning outcomes.The study suggested several teaching strategies specifically for this course based on the author's experiences in teaching this course.It was concluded that integration of pedagogical design and an assessment scheme for this common core MIS course was useful and achievable.
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